Sudan Extradites Wanted Takfiri Leader to Egypt

Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)
Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)
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Sudan Extradites Wanted Takfiri Leader to Egypt

Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)
Egyptian police special forces. (Getty Images)

An Egyptian security source revealed that Cairo is waiting for the arrival of a wanted fugitive takfiri leader extradited from Sudan named Madin Ibrahim Mohamed Hassanein.

The leader had fled to Sudan after being convicted of killings and violence against police officers in Egypt.

“Hassanein arrived at Khartoum airport last night ahead of his deportation to Cairo, and it is only a matter of time before he arrives to Egypt,” said the security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“There is full coordination between Egyptian and Sudanese security, and it will be followed by the extradition of other wanted criminals to Egypt,” he added.

Hassanein, according to Islamist movements researcher Amro Abdulmoneim, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2013.

In the case known as “Asharqiyya unrest,” Hassanein was tried alongside 16 other fugitives for killing police officers and incitement against public order.

According to Abdulmoneim, Hassanein is also an ex-affiliate of a takfiri network founded by Shawqi al-Sheikh in the Faiyum province, southwest of Cairo.

“Hassanein encouraged others to kill police and army officers in his village in Sharqia governorate (Egypt Delta) after Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power in 2011,” he said.

“He established a terror organization called Ansar al-Sharia in al-Sharqia, formed cells in the following governorates: Beni Suef, Giza and Faiyum, and he shared ties to the terrorist Adel Habara,” Abdulmoneim added.

Egyptian authorities had executed Habara in December 2016 after he was convicted of the murder of 25 soldiers in the north Sinai province in August 2013.

“Hassanein had fled to Sudan, along with other convicts,” Abdulmoneim noted, adding that there are “approximately 70 Muslim Brotherhood youth fugitives in Sudan.”



Syria Says Kills Senior ISIS Leader, Arrests Operative Near Damascus

A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)
A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)
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Syria Says Kills Senior ISIS Leader, Arrests Operative Near Damascus

A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)
A photo of a Public Security operation in Aleppo against an ISIS cell (File – Facebook)

Syrian authorities on Thursday said forces killed a senior leader in the ISIS group and arrested another operative in fresh operations near capital Damascus in coordination with the US-led coalition.

Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a "precise security operation" in the Damascus countryside, AFP reported.

"The operation resulted in neutralising the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as 'Abu Omar Shaddad', who is considered one of the prominent ISIS leaders in Syria," it added.

"This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners."

Later Thursday, the interior ministry said security forces "in joint coordination with international coalition forces" arrested "the leader of a terrorist cell affiliated with the ISIS organization" elsewhere near Damascus, seizing weapons and ammunition.

Late Wednesday, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an ISIS leader in the Damascus region, along with several of his men, also in a joint operation with the US-led coalition.

The interior ministry also said on Thursday that security forces had arrested three members of an ISIS-affiliated cell in Aleppo province.

A December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian. Washington blamed the attack on a lone ISIS gunman in Syria's Palmyra.

In retaliation, US forces conducted strikes targeting scores of ISIS targets in Syria.

The strikes killed five members of the militant group, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In November, during a visit by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Washington, Syria officially joined the US-led coalition against ISIS.


Israeli Settler Attack Injures Palestinian Baby, Five Arrested

Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers
Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers
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Israeli Settler Attack Injures Palestinian Baby, Five Arrested

Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers
Israeli settlers attacked farmers and volunteers harvesting olives on a Palestinian farm in Burin, near Nablus, on November 8, 2025. © Observers

Israeli security forces announced on Thursday the arrest of five Israeli settlers over their alleged involvement in an attack on a Palestinian home that injured a baby girl in the occupied West Bank.

The eight-month-old infant suffered "moderate injuries to the face and head" in the late Wednesday attack, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

It blamed the attack on "a group of armed settlers", accusing them of "throwing stones at homes and property" in the town of Sair, north of Hebron, AFP reported.

A statement from the Israeli police said that five suspects had been arrested for their "alleged involvement in serious, violent incidents in the village of Sair".

Israeli security forces had received reports of "stones being thrown by Israeli civilians toward a Palestinian home", adding a Palestinian girl was injured.

"The preliminary investigation determined the involvement of several suspects who came from a nearby outpost," the statement said, referring to Israeli settlements not officially recognized by Israeli authorities.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by the international community.

Some are also illegal under Israeli law, though many of those are later given official recognition.

Almost none of the perpetrators of previous attacks by settlers have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.

A Telegram group linked to the "Hilltop Youth", a movement of hardline settlers who advocate direct action against Palestinians, posted a video showing property damage in Sair.

More than 500,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, as do around three million Palestinians.

Violence involving settlers has risen in recent years, according to the United Nations, and October was the worst month since it began recording such incidents in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.

The violence in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the Gaza war.

Since the start of the war, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many militants as well as dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

According to official Israeli figures, at least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the same period.


Syria to Start Currency Swap on January 1st, Central Bank Governor Says

Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. Picture taken February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. Picture taken February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
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Syria to Start Currency Swap on January 1st, Central Bank Governor Says

Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. Picture taken February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. Picture taken February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo

Syria will start swapping old banknotes for new ones under a ​plan to replace Assad-era notes starting from January 1, 2026, Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh said on Thursday.

Husrieh announced the introduction of the new Syrian currency, saying the decree "sets January ‌1, 2026, ‌as the start date ‌for ⁠the ​exchange ‌process". Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in August that the country will issue new banknotes, removing two zeros from its currency in an attempt to restore ⁠public confidence in the severely devalued pound.

The ‌step is intended ‍to strengthen ‍the Syrian pound after its purchasing ‍power collapsed to record lows following a 14-year conflict that ended with President Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December.

Husrieh ​said the operation will take place through a smooth and orderly ⁠swap - a move bankers hope will ease fears that the new currency could fuel inflation and further erode the purchasing power of Syrians already reeling from high prices.

He added that a press conference will soon outline the exact regulations and mechanisms.